Justin N. Feldman ’42 LL.B.

September 21, 2011

Justin N. Feldman ’42 LL.B. was a Manhattan attorney and an unswerving critic of Tammany Hall who helped coordinate Robert F. Kennedy’s 1964 U.S. Senate campaign. Feldman, whose work in New York City politics spanned seven decades, passed away on September 21, 2011, at the age of 92.

A Manhattan native, Feldman immersed himself in local politics as a prominent member of the Fair Deal Democratic Club, a group devoted to breaking Tammany Hall’s stranglehold on city politics. He coordinated the successful 1960 Congressional campaign of William F. Ryan ’49, who unseated Tammany’s candidate in the race for New York’s 20th district. That same year, Feldman worked on the presidential campaign of John F. Kennedy.

Feldman supported another Kennedy family member’s political aspirations in 1964, helping to manage Robert F. Kennedy’s successful campaign for one of New York’s U.S. Senate seats.

Feldman, who remained deeply involved in local politics over the next several decades, was a founding member of Landis, Feldman, Reilly & Akers. He became head of litigation at Kronish Lieb Weiner & Hellman in 1982, and practiced until the age of 90.

Feldman is survived by his wife, former Manhattan prosecutor and crime novelist Linda Fairstein; daughters Jane and Diane; son Geoffrey; and two grandsons.